


Delivered

by alternativehoneytea



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:01:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27732694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alternativehoneytea/pseuds/alternativehoneytea
Summary: "If a life of comfort and wealth brings you happiness, then I wish you the best, my sweet one. But if you’re like me, if you don’t want to live your life on a shelf. . ." She placed her heavy boot on the bay window and inhaled sharp, cool air deep in her lungs. Her dress lay on the rug abandoned, but the room where she had spent the last seventeen years was pristine. Like no one had really lived there at all. And, although she had existed there, therein lay the question: had she been living?Stella veers from the path that had always been decided for her, desperate to elude lofty expectations. But it's funny how we always seem to return to the things we wish the most to escape. Gust is unsettled by the new builder. Why is she so determined to succeed? Where did she come from? And why can't he get her out of his head?
Relationships: Female Builder/Gust (My Time At Portia), Phyllis/Sam (My Time At Portia)
Kudos: 5





	Delivered

_You know, it was too late when I decided the life I was living wasn’t for me. I love you. But you had a place in that world where I never would._

Estelle’s hands shook as she closed the door to her chambers. The party chatter and cheerful music died away behind the heavy oak door. The silence was deafening as she looked around her childhood room. Her sleeping gown was smooth and pressed on the edge of the huge four-poster bed. The long velvet curtains fluttered in the chilly winter breeze. A massive harp sat in the corner next to the cushioned stool she had sat upon for a thousand quiet mornings and still nights. 

_I grew up with less than your mother and I was enchanted by the thought that riches would solve my problems._

She felt suspended in the familiar sights and smells of the four corners of her life. Had moments passed or hours? She didn’t have time to spare. She set her jaw and rushed forward to the bed, dropping to her knees. She reached under the golden-trimmed ruffles of the bed skirt to pull out a burlap sack she had recovered from the kitchen trash. 

Inside the bag was a pair of worn leather boots and a pair of leggings, a hooded poncho and a photograph of her and her mother, taken on her seventeenth birthday. The next day she became the most eligible of the nobility in Barnarock. The next week, Galvin had asked for her hand and her mother could not have been more pleased with the match. 

_If a life of comfort and wealth brings you happiness, then I wish you the best, my sweet one. But if you’re like me, if you don’t want to live your life on a shelf. . ._

There was a knock at the oak door and her heart was in her throat. 

She clawed at the beaded clasps on the back of her deep red gown, feeling it rip as she jerked it off, scattering the pearls on the plush carpet. She caught a glimpse of herself in her vanity as she hurriedly donned the traveling clothes. She had traded for them with a stable boy. He promised his silence in exchange for a jewel-encrusted comb she had received for Winter Solstice. 

Her dark mane of curls had been tamed into a series of braids, partially gathered into an intricate bun and the rest flowing freely down her back. Her tawny skin was dappled with a smattering of freckles. Wide, frightened green eyes with long dark lashes gazed back at her. . Her elaborate makeup for the engagement party starkly contrasted her plain clothing and she wished desperately to scrub it away, to find her face underneath the mask of it. 

The knocking increased its tempo and the knob began to jiggle.

_I’ve not had much. But I’ve enjoyed my time here. I’ve seen the sun rise. I’ve breathed clean air. I’ve met people I wished so much I could share with you._

One last glance. 

She placed her heavy boot on the bay window and inhaled, sharp cool air deep in her lungs. Her dress lay on the rug abandoned, but the room she had spent the last seventeen years was pristine. Like no one had really lived there at all.

And, although she had existed there, therein lay the question: had she been living there? 

She had snuck out this way very few times, usually just to look at the stars from the top of the tower.

_I wasn’t the father you deserved. But this is one gift I can give you. A shot at happiness, if you find the road you are on doesn’t lead where you want to go._

She slipped out the window and into the night, away from everything she ever knew. She had a boat to catch. 

_There’s always a place for you in Portia._

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, friends! This year has been a nightmare. I have found so much solace in fanfiction and video games, and I want to extend some of the joy I have found in these imaginary places to you. While I LOVE Arlo, I feel like there is so much to be done with Gust's character, and I look forward to having fun with him and Stella. There will also be additional romantic relationships throughout. 
> 
> Also, there will be smut and fluff later. So that's exciting. Please stay with me! This is my first attempt at a fanfiction that I will stick with and grow with and hopefully not remove in shame.


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